Daily report 12 / 18 January 2011

The actors started at 2 pm to rehearse; we came in later at 4 pm ad worked till 9.30 pm. In the car I could watch on television a ceremony during the sumo tournament which is now held in Tokyo. Few days ago I visited this tournament and watched a few sumo matches. Very impressive experience.

In rehearsal the main focus is now on the mise en scene. The entrances and going off the stage. The positions of the actors in de different scenes. This part is familiar to me and also reveals to me the outlines of the performance.

In between special movements are trained like running and sitting. There must be speed in the running and the stop has to be at once. The actor must control the movement. The position of the feet and the body is very important. The slightest movement or change in the attitude alters the meaning of the scene. I understand now why the rhythm is so important. It is the way how the story is told and how the audience gets involved.

It is fascinating to see how Fumio corrects the young actresses and actors by imitating their acting and showing them the different meaning they communicate with their physical acting. It is amazing (and also very funny) to see how he reveals in this way to the actor the essential contents of his acting. And also shows the right way of acting. Like a running entrance on the stage as a guard. Watching if there is any danger. There has to be a glance of understanding with the fellow guard before she goes to her master.

The running must tell the audience there is great danger. The focus of the eyes must be far away. The glance to the other guard must show the understanding between the two women. And at last the short walk towards her master to let her know they will die to protect her. Fumio corrects every movement in order to tell the right story. For the actress it is hard to be aware of her body language and to control every movement. I can see the scene becomes clear in what is happening and the movements become more intensive and meaningful.

Later the same actress has to die in a sword combat. In this scene her acting is very convincing. I can see in the movements of her body the sword of her opponent touches her. Her scream is loud and expressive. I wonder what makes the difference in acting. In the first scene she seems to feel insecure and in this combat scene her acting is strong and convincing. After the rehearsal Fumio spoke to the actors and asks them to be aware, train and master the techniques. It is the key to improvement and excellence.

I understand more and more how O-Getsu Ryu tells the story in sword dance. Mihoko said to me "The sword is our word". This last rehearsal shows how the slightest detail in attitude, movement and focus can change the contents and reveals a whole different meaning. Now I also see the importance of the training of the sword dance techniques. It makes me think of the exercise in the dojo in which the feet and the sword make a different movement but unite in the start and the end. In the scene there are also two lines which have to come together: the body and the emotion. In the body language the emotion has to reveal the inner movement. The emotion must be felt to strengthen the movements becoming more intensive and convincing to the audience.

It was a very interesting day for me. Observing the rehearsals my understanding of the creative process how O-Getsu stages a story grows. It makes me very excited and brings new inspiration for my own theatrical work.  I hope I can support their theatrical work with my workshop. It would be wonderful if this cooperation could contribute to the development in our artistic work.